A container for transporting and storing landscaping materials includes a rectangular container body having a bottom wall, a pair of side walls, and an end wall which define an open-ended chamber; and a vertical ramp end wall that is pivotally displaceable between a normal vertical closed position, and a downwardly inclined loading position, which pivot arrangement includes a pair of horizontal pivot shafts arranged collinearly transversely of the container on opposite sides of the protruding ends of a pair of guide rails that extend longitudinally beneath the bottom wall. To afford manual operation of the massive ramp wall, a counter-balancing spring arrangement is provided including a pair of torsion springs mounted concentrically on these two pivot shafts for biasing the ramp wall from the loading position upwardly toward the closed position with an aggregate torque force that is generally equal to the weight of the ramp wall.
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1. A container for tranporting and storing bulk materials, comprising:
(a) a rectangular container body having:
(1) a horizontal bottom wall;
(2) a pair of parallel vertical side walls and a vertical rear end wall integrally connected with said bottom wall to define a chamber that is open at one end:
(3) a vertical ramp forward end wall;
(4) a pivot assembly connecting the bottom edge portion of said ramp wall with said container body for pivotal movement of said ramp wall between a normal vertical closed position closing the open end of said chamber, and a downwardly inclined loading position at which a front-loading vehicle may be driven into and out of the container body chamber, wherein said pivot assembly includes:
(1) a pair of collinearhorizontal pivot shafts extending transversely of said container;
(2) support means supporting said pivot shafts in parallel spaced relation relative to said bottom wall forward end; and
(3) two pairs of parallel spaced pivot arms integral with and extending downwardly from the bottom edge portion of said ramp end wall when said ramp end wall is in said closed vertical position, the lower ends of said pairs of pivot arms being joumaled on said pivot shafts, respectively; and
(5) a pair of parallel spaced guide rails rigidly secured to, and extending centrally longitudinally below the length of, said bottom wall, said guide rails having end portions that extend outwardly beyond said vertical ramp wall and the forward end of said bottom wall, wherein said pivot shafts are on opposite sides of said guide rails; and
(b) a counter-balancing spring assembly including helical torsion springs arranged concentrically about said collinear horizontal pivot shafts for biasing said ramp wall from said downwardly inclined loading position upwardly toward said vertical closed position with a torque force that is generally equal to the gravitational torque force generated by the weight of said ramp wall, thereby to permit manual operation of said ramp wall between said closed and loading positions.
5. A container for transporting and storing bulk materials, comprising:
(a) a rectangular container body having:
(1) a horizontal bottom wall;
(2) a pair of parallel vertical side walls and a vertical rear end wall integrally connected with said bottom wall to define a chamber that is open at one end:
(3) a vertical ramp forward end wall;
(4) a pair of parallel spaced guide rads rigidly secured to, and extending centrally longitudinally below the length of, said bottom wall, said guide rails having end portions that extend outwardly beyond said vertical ramp wall and the forward end of said bottom wall; and
(5) a pivot assembly connecting the bottom edge portion of said ramp wall with said container body for pivotal movement of said ramp wall between a normal vertical closed position closing the open end of said chamber, and a downwardly inclined loading position at which a front-loading vehicle may be driven into and out of the container body chamber, said pivot arrangement including:
(1) a pair of collinear horizontal pivot shafts extending transversely of said container on opposite sides of said guide rails;
(2) support means supporting said pivot shafts in parallel spaced relation relative to said bottom wall forward end; and
(3) two pairs of parallel spaced pivot arms integral with and extending downwardly from the bottom edge portion of said ramp end wall when said ramp end wall is in said closed vertical position, the lower ends of said pairs of pivot arms being journaled on said pivot shafts, respectively;
(b) a transport hook mounted on said guide rail extending rail portions;
(c) a counter-balancing spring assembly biasing said ramp wall from said horizontal loading position upwardly toward said closed vertical position with a torque force that is generally equal to the gravitational torque force generated by the weight of said ramp wall, thereby to permit manual operation of said ramp wall between said closed and loading positions, said spring assembly includes a pair of helical torsion springs mounted concentrically on said pivot shafts, respectively; and
(d) a locking assembly for locking said ramp end wall to said container body when said ramp wall is in said vertical closed position.
2. The container as defined in
3. The container as defined in
a transport hook mounted on said guide rail extending rail portions.
4. The container as defined in
a locking assembly for locking said ramp end wall to said container body when said ramp wall is in said vertical closed position.
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This application is related to the prior application of Dennis W. Melancon Ser. No. 14/672,209 filed Mar. 19 2015 entitled “Ramp Wall Operating Arrangement”.
A container for transporting and storing landscaping materials includes a rectangular container body having a bottom wall, two side walls, and an end wall that define an open-ended chamber; and a vertical ramp end wall that is pivotally displaceable between a normal vertical closed position closing the chamber, and a downwardly inclined loading position, which pivot arrangement includes a pair of horizontal pivot shafts arranged collinearly transversely of the container on opposite sides of the protruding ends of a pair of guide rails that extend longitudinally beneath the bottom wall. To afford manual operation of the massive ramp wall, a counter-balancing spring arrangement is provided including a pair of torsion springs mounted concentrically on the pivot shafts for biasing the ramp wall from the loading position upwardly toward the closed position with a balanced torque force that is generally equal to the weight of the ramp wall.
In the inventor's prior Melancon U.S. Pat. No. 9,067,524, a rectangular container or bin is disclosed for transporting and storing landscaping materials and the like, including a ramp end wall that is pivotally displaceable by hydraulic motor means between its normal vertical closed position closing the container open end, and a lowered slightly downwardly inclined loading position, whereby a front end loading vehicle may be driven into and out of the container. As disclosed in this patent and in the companion Melancon et al U.S. Pat. No. 8,840,454, a bar or hook arrangement is provided on the container for connection with a motor-driven loading cable, thereby to assist in the loading and unloading of the container relative to a flatbed transporting vehicle. In the pending Melancon application Ser. No. 14/672,209 filed Mar. 19, 2015, it was proposed to connect the hydraulic motor means between the ramp wall and the ends of the centrally arranged guide rails that protrude from the forward end of the storage bin.
It is also known in the patented prior art to provide spring counter-balancing arrangements for biasing a pivotally connected wall toward a closed position, as indicated by the patents to Tabordon U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,777, Neagu U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,736, Adams U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,788, and Erdmann et al U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,661.
In an effort to reduce the number of moving parts, manufacturing costs, and maintenance expense, and to simplify operation in the field, the present invention was developed wherein the hydraulic ramp wall operating means is replaced by a counter-balancing spring arrangement, thereby to permit a single operator to manually displace the relatively massive ramp wall between its normal vertical closed position and the pivotally downwardly inclined loading position. Major concerns in developing the invention were how to properly mount the counter-balancing spring means on the container without interfering with the structural integrity of the container, or adversely affecting the loading and unloading of the container relative to a flatbed transporting vehicle, while affording manual operation of the massive ramp wall between its closed and open positions.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a container for transporting and storing landscaping materials and the like, including a container body having an open-ended chamber that is normally closed by a vertical ramp wall that is pivotally displaceable to a downwardly inclined generally horizontal loading position, including a counter-balancing spring arrangement that biases the ramp wall from the downwardly inclined loading position upwardly toward the vertical closed position with a torque force that is generally equal to the gravitational torque force generated by the weight of the ramp wall, thereby to permit manual operation of the ramp wall between the closed and loading positions.
According to a more specific object of the invention, the counter-balancing torsion spring arrangement includes a pair of helical torsion spring that are concentrically mounted on two collinearly arranged pivot shafts that support the ramp wall for pivotal displacement between the closed and loading positions, which springs have tangentially outwardly extending end portions that react between the container bottom wall and the ramp wall, respectively. The pivot shafts are collinearly arranged on opposite sides of the end portions of the longitudinal container guide rails that extend outwardly beyond the adjacent edge of the container bottom wall for supporting the transport hook arrangement.
According to another object, a locking arrangement is provided for locking the counter-balanced ramp wall in the vertical closed position.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Referring first more particularly to
Referring now to
Referring
The rectangular container body 102 includes a horizontal bottom wall 104, a pair of vertical side walls 106 and 108, and a fixed vertical end wall 110 that cooperate to define an open-topped chamber C. It also includes a pair of parallel spaced guide rails 138 that extend longitudinally centrally beneath the entire length of the container bottom wall for guiding the container as it is loaded and unloaded from a flatbed transport vehicle. Two transport rollers 148 are provided at the rear end of the lower surface of the bottom wall. A transport hook arrangement 140 is mounted on the end portions 138a of the guide rails 138 that protrude outwardly beyond the adjacent edge of the container bottom wall.
Referring now to
In the locking arrangement shown in
Operation
Assume that the container 102 has been transported to a desired location, and unloaded from the transporting flatbed trailer. The locking lever 138 is pivoted in the clockwise direction to unlock the locking means 130, and the operator manually initiates downward pivotal movement of the ramp wall 120. This results in tensioning of the torsion coil 180 owing to the relative displacement of the coil ends 180a and 180b. The ramp wall 120 is continuously displaced downwardly toward the generally- horizontal downwardly-inclined loading position, with the aggregate tension of the two torsion springs 180 serving to counter-balance the gravitational torque force produced by the weight of the ramp wall 120. The front end loader may then be driven up the ramp wall 120 and into the container chamber C for the discharge of the landscaping materials therefrom.
When the delivery of the desired amount of material from the container has been completed, the operator manually raises the counter-balanced ramp wall 120 toward the vertical closed position, and then operates the locking means 130 to lock the ramp end wall to the container body 102. The front end loading vehicle may or may not be contained in the chamber, as desired.
In this invention, the use of standard helical torsion springs is contemplated, for example, a Chamberlain 0.75 wire heavy duty helical torsion spring produced by McAllister Industries of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. The spring arrangement results in a cost savings, a reduction of moving parts, simple manual operability, and a maintenance-free installation. This is achieved without any compromise of the structural integrity and durability of the container. Consequently, owing to the counterbalancing spring arrangement provided by the instant invention, the massive ramp end wall (which might weigh on the order of 500 pounds), is easily pivotally displaced manually by a single operator toward its open or closed positions. By using two springs collinearly arranged on opposite sides of the protruding guide rail ends, the biasing forces are balanced and produce no adverse effect on the pivoting operation of the ramp wall.
Although the use of two pivot shafts has been disclosed, it is possible that a single pivot shaft and a single concentrically-mounted torsion spring could be provided. It is also conceivable that other types of spring arrangements, such as tension and/or compression spring arrangements, could be used to counter-balance the weight of the ramp wall.
While in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes the preferred forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without deviating from the invention described above.
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
May 25 2016 | Dropstor, Inc. | (assignment on the face of the patent) | ||||
Aug 26 2016 | MELANCON, DENNIS WAYNE, JR | DROPSTOR, INC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 039560 | 0319 | |
Mar 05 2023 | DROPSTOR, LLC | MELANCON HOLDINGS, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 062910 | 0763 |
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